Lineage 2: Revolution has already conquered Asia, and it’s here to do the same in the West. And it’s off to a good start: Over 1.5 million players have already signed up for South Korean developer Netmarble’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It arrives on iOS and Android in the U.S. and Europe for the first time today.
The mobile MMORPG is based on the popular 2003 PC game Lineage 2, which is an online fantasy adventure that features familiar races such as humans, elves, and dwarves. Though Lineage 2: Revolution is on smartphones, it keeps pace with its PC predecessor in terms of scale. It handily brings Diablo-esque raids to the small screen, as 200 players can simultaneously lay siege to a castle. It has various synchronous real-time battles between players, from 1-vs.-1 up to 50-vs.-50. Because of its technical prowess, GamesBeat named it as the best sequel developed with the Unreal Engine at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo industry event.
“From the planning stage, Lineage 2: Revolution was designed so that it can be easily enjoyed by not only the PC MMORPG players but also by mobile RPG players,” said Netmarble’s chief global officer Seungwon Lee in an email to GamesBeat. “It is the goal of the development team to make it possible for players to enjoy society-like community within the game. We focused on providing an experience that was never seen in other mobile games.”
Lineage 2: Revolution first debuted in South Korea in December 2016, and made $176 million in the first month. In June 2017, it expanded to 11 other Asian countries where it topped the Apple App Store and Google Play charts in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. It’s also partnered with Tencent to publish the title in China.
Netmarble’s Los Angeles office and newly acquired studio Kabam Games worked for about a year to localize Lineage 2: Revolution for its U.S. and Europe debut. It also teamed up with late-night TV show host Conan O’Brien to get the word out to players.
